Imagine driving down the freeway at a swift 75 mph. Or, if that seems too far-fetched, then at least picture grinding your way through the rush-hour slog, bumper to bumper, your foot hovering over the brake in anticipation of the next sudden stop in traffic.

Now imagine that same scene, only the sky above your head is filled with large, hanging video screens. Bright, tantalizing pictures sparkle before your eyes: visions of scantly clad beauties, or offers of great sales – a dizzying array of dazzle and data.

The images grab your eyes and capture your thoughts – right up until the moment you slam into that minivan ahead of you.

This is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s latest scheme for scrounging up some cash for Sacramento’s perpetually busted budget: color digital displays, coming soon to a freeway near you.

At best, it’s a recipe for more congestion; at worst, a recipe for deadly car wrecks. Either way, it’s a terrible idea.

Under a bill that Schwarzenegger’s Department of Finance submitted to the Legislature earlier this week, the state would sell off to private firms the Amber Alert boards that dot the state’s freeways. The firms would, in turn, replace the boards with color digital screens. That way, whenever drivers aren’t being regaled with news of child abductions or

SigAlerts, they can be emblazoned with ads for movies, shampoo and potato chips.

The state currently operates 708 of the electronic message boards, but Caltrans plans to install an additional 597. That would make for a grand total of 1,305 video screens pumping out nonstop advertising to distracted commuters who already have a hard time keeping their eyes on the road and their hands upon the wheel.

The upside, according to news reports, is that selling off the rights to just 500 of these screens over the next 20 years could reap some $2 billion in new state revenues. And because California currently faces a nearly $20 billion deficit, the Governor’s Office is hoping it can get as much of that money up front as possible.

But to get advertisers to put up the cash now, the state would have to offer significant long-term discounts in return. In other words, Sacramento would subject California to decades of dangerous blight for a short-term payoff at fire-sale prices. Californians would get all the ugliness and all the hazards for years to come, just so Schwarzenegger and the Legislature could get a brief reprieve from their self-inflicted budget disaster.

This plan sounds suspiciously like one of Arnold’s suggested money-making schemes from last year, namely his proposal to borrow against future Lottery proceeds as a short-term budget fix. Both plans are the governmental equivalent of “buy now with no payment or interest until next year” – a great idea, until next year rolls around.

The governor’s Lottery plan quickly went down in flames. His freeway advertising plan should, too.

Gimmickry is no substitute for responsible budgeting. You would think Sacramento would have figured that out by now.